I’ve been watching a lot of Last of the Summer Wine on YouTube lately. I don’t know why, but a show about a bunch of old guys farting around is very relaxing! I’m reminded of some of the other classic British sitcoms I’ve seen over the years.
Along with LOTSW, I’d put Are You Being Served?, Allo Allo, and Red Dwarf at the top my list. Blackadder is pretty high up as well, along with less traditional comedies like Monty Python and Fry and Laurie.
What are some others that people like that maybe I’ve missed?
Black Adder is king along wihh Monty Python. For more recent stuff i actually like Coupling. The americans butchered it for the US version, but the original is pretty damn funny.
Otherwise, I love me some Red Dwarf, Black Books, and the IT Crowd.
I think that “Keeping Up Appearances” is right, haven’t seen a lot of that one, but it used to be on PBS when I was in high school, and I remember the odd episodes I caught being pretty funny.
‘Last of the Summer Wine’ itself has become a bit of a joke here in the UK, mainly due to its longevity and the fact that most of the original cast are long dead. Still IMO it retains a childish charm and has the backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales to add natural beauty.
A couple of my own old time favourites are ‘Porridge’, possibly the only sit-com to be set in a prison and Frankie Howard’s outrageously camp ‘Up Pompeii’, some of whose running jokes found their way into ‘Rome - Total War’. ‘Ab Fab’ and ‘Black Adder’ too of course.’
‘Father Ted’ was actually Irish, and, as history has shown, some Irish people object strongly to being regarded as British :) .
League of Gentlemen: so horribly evil you will cringe and laugh at the same time. Sort of like a soap set in the country side crossed with the sort of nightmares you get from eating cheese late at night.
The Mighty Boosh. Cheese dreams crossed with surrealism. First season was ok, next season was better. LOOK IN TO MY MANGINA!
And the usual Red Dwarf (a sci fi comedy is such a strange thing to actually have WORK!), Black Adder, The Office, etc. Also, whatshisnamw as Arkwright, grocer. Classic stuff.
Ronnie Barker, ‘Open All Hours’. Which reminds me that ‘Only Fools and Horses’ is fantastic as well - sometimes hilarious get-rich-quick schemes combined with a big dollop of pathos.
I’ll second Keeping Up Appearances and Yes, Minister. I also have s soft spot for As Time Goes By. If you like Rowan Atkinson, he is great in The Thin Blue Line.
The writer and creator was Irish, the people starring in the show were Irish, but it was produced by a British company for a British channel. There were rumours that the Irish channel turned it down, but those were countered by the creator who said he never brought the show to the Irish stations.
But yes, Fr. Ted is a must watch, as is Graham Linehans other show The IT Crowd. And Black Books which also stars Irishman Dylan Moran and (the English) Bill Bailey.
If we’re including sketch shows, That Mitchell & Webb Look (up on Netflix (in Canada, anyway)) tickled me immensely. The rate of hits-to-misses is maybe not as high as, say, Mr. Show, but there are moments of conceptual brilliance in this show that boggle the mind. For example:
